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NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Gail Collins is a columnist for the New York Times. She is also the author of "America's Women: Four hundred Years of Dolls, Combs, Companions and Heroines" and five other books.
And now, Texas Tussle.
Ted Cruz against Beto O'Rourke! In verbal combat! Yes, people, we just have the first big debate of the election season. The Congressman of El Paso, super cool, against the US Senator, is so insensitive that his own party is complaining about the problem of probability.
Challenged to say something nice about his opponent, O'Rourke congratulated Cruz for his hard work and thanked him for his public service. In response, Cruz said that O'Rourke was "absolutely sincere" and compared him to this socialist Bernie Sanders.
And so on.
Nobody really anticipated that the race in Texas would be a contest – the Democrats have no senator since the year Britney Spears joined the Mickey Mouse Club.
But O'Rourke far exceeded expectations. He raised tons of more money than Cruz and no PACs. While polls are everywhere, some have shown him a quick shutdown.
In the first minute of the debate, O'Rourke was able to point out that he had visited the 254 counties of Texas during his campaign. (Hitting each county at least once is a classic political ploy, but try to do it in Texas.) He was inevitably questioned about a drunken driving arrest in his past and managed to greet his family and tribute second chances.
Cruz has a long debater experience and Republicans are generally acclaimed when he gets out of their faces and gets on the podium. On Friday, he insisted very hard on gun rights – he firmly argued that no Texan should be "shot dead" at his home. When O & # 39; Rourke spoke about the danger of assault weapons, Cruz said the real problem God of the public square. "
Whatever you feel, you have to admit that this race was very interesting. In addition to the usual firearms and health care and immigration fights, Cruz's campaign has called O'Rourke a "triple-meat Whataburger liberal who is out of touch with Texas values." Whataburger is a popular fast food chain, and it looked a lot like the announcement of your opponent by a big Mac on the left.
O'Rourke responded by eating a Whataburger and then skateboarding around the restaurant car park. We certainly need more of that kind of joyful distraction in politics. People are already talking about a presidential race where he wins. In fact, Beto is so hot that people speculate on a presidential race if he loses.
Immigration was naturally a big problem in the debate; O'Rourke defended the Dreamers while Cruz hinted that his opponent loved illegal immigrants more than the Texans. It will be interesting to see how all this will happen in November. Foreigners tend to underestimate the rationality of Texans on the subject. You may be surprised to learn that most of them want well-trained border guards who do not separate children from their mothers. In addition, they are not necessarily crazy to have a wall of monsters in the yard.
The debate unfortunately did not lead to the first person: when O'Rourke won the nomination in March, Cruz immediately launched a radio ad claiming that "Robert Liberal" had changed his name to Beto for political purposes.
Interrogating minds quickly noted that Cruz had turned his own name from Rafael Edward to Ted.
Cruz's explanation was to remind the world that he was "the son of Rafael Cruz, an immigrant from Cuba who came to Texas with nothing and who had $ 100 in underwear."
Not exactly to the point. But the history of underwear has always been an essential part of Cruz's political career. The fact that Dad emigrated from Cuba to Texas to Canada, where the little Rafael / Ted was born, is mentioned less often.
Ethnic politics in Texas is very important, and in this race we have a non-Hispanic democrat who was born near the Mexican border and who was then called a child. Run against a Cuban Canadian with an Anglo nickname. Only one of them speaks fluent Spanish, and this is not the one whose father had 100 dollars in his nobility.
Republicans have complained for years about how they find Iris Cruz. Do you remember when Lindsey Graham said that if Ted Cruz was murdered in the Senate "and that the trial was going on in the Senate, no one could sentence you?" But a long time ago, before the 51-49 majority party. At this moment, if Attila the Hun was their nominee, they would broadcast ads on his great riding skills.
Cruz, you will remember, ran for president in 2016 against a "coward" named Donald Trump, who insulted Cruz's wife and claimed that his father was linked to Kennedy's assassination. Now everything is forgotten. Well, at least ignored.
"I worked hand in hand with the president on the merits," Cruz said during the debate, making very quick reference to tax cuts and arguing that keeping grudges would be "selfish".
Meanwhile, Trump promises to hold a big rally for Cruz in October. And he sent Ivanka to visit the Houston Space Center with the senator.
Imagine spending the week listening to your father, the accuser of Brett Kavanaugh, and discussing the future of space exploration with Ted Cruz. Sometimes you must have pity on Ivanka. Even if she refers to herself as the first girl.
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